There’s no question that LeBron James enjoys the spotlight. But the King showed a bit of humility when he learned his name was among the 25 finalists for the annual “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine.

“That’s just crazy,” James told the Associated Press. “What those guys did, the courage and what they stood for, I should be nowhere near that list. Nowhere near it.”

Couldn’t agree more with you LeBron.

Being a person of influence and being known are two completely different categories for which James belongs in the latter group.

James dominated sports coverage this summer (and all year for ESPN with the Miami “Heat Index”) and, yes, he did influence some personal opinions, but let’s be honest here. The man is not changing the world order or causing systems to succeed or fail.

If he stopped playing tomorrow, the NBA would still exist and, even in regards to the LeBron James Miami Heat trade, it’s much too early to tell if this will impact how trades are handled in the future.

Apparently most of America agrees with this sentiment. So far, LeBron James isn’t faring well in the early voting for Time Magazine. As of Tuesday morning, he sits in 22nd place, just ahead of author Jonathan Franzen, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and former BP exec Tony Hayward.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading the votes so far with a near 40,000 vote lead over Lady Gaga. Yep, you read that correctly.

But that trend should break this Friday, Oct. 22 as the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat prepare to face-off in an instate NBA rivalry at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Fans have been on the countdown to watch Dwight Howard and Co. take on Miami’s three kings in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

An estimated 18,000 tickets have already been sold with approximately 2,000 tickets according to arena officials.

The Orlando Magic-Miami Heat game was slated for the St. Pete Times forum actually before the signing of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Heat. Officials are anticipating the largest turnout ever for a NBA preseason game at the St. Pete Times Forum. Friday’s game marks the third meeting between the two teams in Tampa.

But not because the story had no value. People have a strong interest in reading about the personal lives and activities of professional athletes, for their good or bad deeds. Despite what some may think, newspaper and broadcast agencies know exactly what types of stories people are reading and/or watching because of measuring methods such as ratings and website hits.

ESPN was right to pull the story because it would have created yet another double standard of coverage for LeBron James.

Why should he, again, be singled out for routine behavior and choices in the fast-paced social lives of athletes? Nothing illegal (that we know of so far) happened at this party. And let’s be real, this isn’t the first or last wild party an athlete, CEO, politician or average guy with connections or cash to blow will engage in.In fairness, the article was not a negative smear campaign against LeBron. It was just more endless air and space about the “King” with no rings.